South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears—
"appropriate register" means—
(a) the
general register; or
(b) the
specialist register; or
(c) the
medical student register,
as the case may require;
"beneficiary" includes an object of a discretionary trust;
"Board" means the Medical Board of South Australia;
"corporate or trustee medical services provider"—see
subsection (5);
"director" of a body corporate means a member of the board or committee of
management of the body corporate, whether validly appointed or not;
"equipment" includes appliances, instruments, dressings or substances used for
the purposes of medical treatment;
"exempt provider" means—
(a) an
incorporated hospital or private hospital under the Health Care Act 2008
; or
(b) any
other person declared by the regulations to be an exempt provider for the
purposes of this Act;
"general register"—see Part 4 Division 1;
"inspector" means a person authorised by the Board to exercise the powers of
an inspector under this Act;
"legal practitioner" means a person admitted and enrolled as a practitioner of
the Supreme Court of South Australia;
"medical practitioner" means a person who is registered on the
general register or on both the general register and the specialist register;
"medical services provider" means a person (not being a medical practitioner)
who provides medical treatment through the instrumentality of a
medical practitioner or medical student but does not include an exempt
provider;
"medical student" means a person who is registered on the
medical student register;
"medical student register"—see Part 4 Division 1;
"medical treatment" includes all medical or surgical advice, attendances,
services, procedures and operations;
"nominated contact address" of a registered person means an address nominated
by the person for the purpose of service of notices and documents under this
Act;
"nurse" means a person who is registered as a nurse under the Nurses
Act 1999 ;
"provide", in relation to medical treatment, means provide treatment
personally or through the instrumentality of another, and includes offer to
provide;
"psychologist" means a person who is registered as a psychologist under the
Psychological Practices Act 1973 ;
"record" means—
(a) a
documentary record; or
(b) a
record made by an electronic, electromagnetic, photographic or optical
process; or
(c) any
other kind of record;
"register" means a register kept under this Act;
"registered person" means a person who is registered on a register kept under
this Act;
"Registrar"—
(a) in
the case of a reference in Part 5 Division 4—means the person holding or
acting in the office of Registrar of the Tribunal;
(b) in
any other case—means the person holding or acting in the office of
Registrar of the Board;
"repealed Act" means the Medical Practitioners Act 1983 ;
"representative body" means a body that is declared by the regulations to be a
representative body for the purposes of this Act;
"specialist" means a person who is registered on the specialist register;
"specialist register"—see Part 4 Division 1;
"specialty" means a branch of medicine declared by the Board, by notice in the
Gazette, to be a specialty;
"Tribunal" means the Medical Professional Conduct Tribunal;
"unprofessional conduct" includes—
(a)
improper or unethical conduct in relation to professional practice; and
(b)
incompetence or negligence in relation to the provision of medical treatment;
and
(c) a
contravention of or failure to comply with—
(i)
a provision of this Act; or
(ii)
a code of conduct or professional standard prepared or
endorsed by the Board under this Act; and
(d)
conduct that constitutes an offence punishable by imprisonment for 1 year or
more under some other Act or law.
(2) A reference in
this Act to "unprofessional conduct" extends to—
(a)
unprofessional conduct committed before the commencement of this Act; and
(b)
unprofessional conduct committed within or outside South Australia or the
Commonwealth.
(3) A reference in
this Act to "engaging in conduct" includes a reference to failing or refusing
to engage in conduct.
(4) Without limiting
the generality of the expression, a person who is not a medical practitioner
will, unless exempted by the regulations, be taken to "provide medical
treatment through the instrumentality of a medical practitioner if the person,
in the course of carrying on a business, provides services to the practitioner
for which the person is entitled to receive a share in the profits or income
of the practitioner's medical practice.
(5) For the purposes
of this Act—
(a) a
"corporate medical services provider" is a medical services provider that is a
body corporate and a person occupies a
"position of authority" in such a provider if the person—
(i)
is a director of the body corporate; or
(ii)
exercises, or is in a position to exercise, control or
substantial influence over the body corporate in the conduct of its affairs;
or
(iii)
manages, or is to manage, the business of the body
corporate that consists of the provision of medical treatment; or
(iv)
where the body corporate is a proprietary
company—is a shareholder in the body corporate; and
(b) a
"trustee medical services provider" is a person acting as a
medical services provider in the capacity of trustee of a trust and a
person occupies a "position of authority" in such a provider if the person is
a trustee or beneficiary of the trust.
(6) For the purposes
of this Act, a person occupies a "position of authority in a body corporate
other than a corporate medical services provider if the person—
(a) is a
director of the body corporate; or
(b)
exercises, or is in a position to exercise, control or substantial influence
over the body corporate in the conduct of its affairs; or
(c)
where the body corporate is a proprietary company—is a shareholder in
the body corporate.
(7) However—
(a) a
minor who is a shareholder in a proprietary company, or a beneficiary under a
trust, is not, for that reason, to be regarded as a person
occupying a "position of authority"; and
(b) a
charitable organisation that is a beneficiary of a trust is not, for that
reason, to be regarded as occupying a "position of authority .
(8) For the purposes
of this Act, a person who holds more than 10 per cent of the issued share
capital of a public company will be regarded as a person
occupying a "position of authority" in that company.